Richard Nixonnixon.jpg

Republican
Born: January 9, 1913
Died: April 22, 1994
Term one: 1969-1972
Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew
Term two: 1973-1974
Vice President: Gerald Ford


President Nixon, bring the only president forced to resign, had a very eventful presidency. While he successful removed troops from Vietnam, he was involved in the Watergate Scandal, which was a very bad move. Because of Nixon's foreign success, but scandal at home, I give him a solid C for his presidency.

One of Nixon's major goals was to remove troops from the Vietnam War. Nixon went about this by approving the secret bombings that the North Vietnamese had campaigned in order to destroy the headquarters of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam. This was considered a success and as a result, he enforced the withdrawal of North Vietnamese and American forces from South Vietnam. Nixon also introduced the Nixon Doctrine, which was also known as "Vietnamization," which was enforced to replace American troops with Vietnamese troops. Nixon also hoped to remove America from the gold standard. His plan was clearly successful.

Nixon's relationship with congress was descent. Congress was a democratic majority, so Nixon and congress did disagree on some things. They often disagreed on foreign issues like Vietnam and the Cold War.

The action done by Nixon that had the most positive outcome was the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. By enforcing "vietnamization," he helped to lower the tensions and resentment back home. It was all around good for the country and families were very happy to be reunited again.

The action done by Nixon that had the most negative outcome was the Watergate Scandal. This included bugging hotel rooms at the Watergate Hotel. This was used to help ensure Nixon's reelection. The tapes were very secretive and included an eighteen and a half minute gap that is very suspicious. The revealing of this scandal led to the resignation of Nixon. He resigned because he did not want to face impeachment. His presidency is known for this scandal, and it will not be forgotten.

The actions done by president that had the greatest impact on future generations were the passing of the 26th amendment, as well as the approval of the development of NASA's space shuttle program. The approval of this program allowed for Americans to explore and develop space. The 26th amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 16. This made a huge impact and was greatly successful, as it is still in action to this day.

Had the Watergate Scandal not happened, Nixon would have been a very successful president. His successful attempts at removing American troops from Vietnam proved to be life changing and good for the country. The Watergate Scandal proved to be a complete mess, since it led to Nixon's resignation. Because most of Nixon's actions proved to be successful and good for our country, he deserves a good grade. However, due to his scandal at Watergate, his grade deserves to be lowered to a solid C.

Bibliography:

"Richard M. Nixon." The White House. 25 May 2009 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/RichardNixon/>.
"Richard Nixon." Wikipedia. 24 May 2009. 25 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-58>.